Snow removal device

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a manual snow removal device that uses only a small fraction of the energy required for shoveling snow by eliminating the need to toss snow way up into the air thereby preventing heart attacks and death wherein the collected snow never leaves the ground which comprises a snow mover and a snow receiver wherein the snow mover includes a handle manipulated by one hand and having attached on the lower end a push plate and a laterally attached dig plate and used to move snow into the snow receiver wherein the snow receiver includes a container that is of a box like configuration having a collar assembly rotatably attached to the front end wherein the lower portion of the collar is a snow blade wherein the collar may be latched into a front position thereby placing the blade in a down position such that the receiver may be pulled into the snow by the cord with one hand thereby collecting snow wherein the collar may then be latched into a back position thereby lifting the blade up to create a sled-like front end configuration of the receiver such that the receiver may be easily pulled across the snow to a dump area and dumped by tilting the receiver with the snow mover wherein the user is always standing erect during the whole procedure with no bending down or tossing snow required.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

This invention relates to manual snow removal devices, more particularlyto the common snow shovel. Annually, shoveling snow, because it is sostrenuous, causes many deaths because of heart attacks and also manycases of back injury and other injury. This device uses only a fractionof the energy and force required for shoveling snow and consequentlywill save many lives and prevent many injuries. Also, because thisdevice is so easy to use, almost anyone can use it, even children.Furthermore, this device can be sold at a price that almost anyone canafford.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Basically, this invention involves a manual snow removal device whichcomprises a snow mover and a snow receiver wherein the snow moverincludes a handle that has attached on the lower end a push platewherein extending out laterally from the bottom edge of the push plateis a dig plate wherein the snow mover is manipulated with one hand tochop down into the snow and move same into the snow receiver. The snowreceiver includes the container, collar assembly, latch means, cord,cord guides, cord clamps and a handle. The container is of a box-likeconstruction having a flat bottom side and an open front end. The collarassembly has a bottom flat snow blade that is joined to right and leftsides wherein said sides are joined at the top by a connecting bar, saidconnecting bar having a latch attached on top. The back edge of the snowblade portion of the collar assembly is rotatably connected to thecontainer bottom side front edge by a hinge wherein the latch actuatorlever may be engaged by the snow mover to rotatably move and latch theconnecting bar to the snow receiver front position which lowers the snowblade such that the snow receiver may be pulled by the cord into snow tocollect same wherein the latch actuator lever may be engaged by the snowmover to rotatably move and latch the connecting bar to the snowreceiver back position which lifts the front of the snow blade up,creating a sled-like configuration in the snow receiver front end suchthat the snow receiver may be easily pulled by the cord over snow andother obstacles to a dump area to dump the collected snow. A handle isattached on the snow receiver top side near the back side wherein saidhandle can be engaged by the snow mover to tilt the snow receiver overonto the open front end, thereby dumping the snow wherein during thiswhole collection and dumping procedure, the user is always standingerect with no tossing of the snow required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention showing the snow mover andsnow receiver with the collar assembly in the front position and thesnow blade in the down position, which is the position for collectingsnow. The snow shield is shown in phantom lines for unobstructed view ofthe latch. See FIG. 8 for a better view of the snow shield.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the snow receiver with the collarassembly in the back position and the snow blade in the up positionwhich renders the snow receiver in a sled-like configuration for easypulling the receiver across the ground to the snow dump area. The snowshield is shown in phantom lines for unobstructed view of the frontposition hook receiver and front stop means. See FIG. 8 for a betterview of the snow shield.

FIG. 3 is a cutaway view of the snow receiver showing the angle of thesnow blade in the down position relative to the receiver bottom side.

FIG. 4 shows one method of collecting snow by pulling the snow receiverinto the snow.

FIG. 5 shows another method of collecting snow by using the snow moverto move snow into the snow receiver.

FIG. 6A shows how the snow mover blade assembly is used to move thelatch actuator lever forward, placing the collar assembly in the frontposition and the snow blade in the down position in order to collectsnow.

FIG. 6B shows how the snow mover blade assembly is used to move thelatch actuator lever backwards, placing the collar assembly in the backposition and the snow blade in the up position in order to easily pullthe receiver to the dump area.

FIG. 6C shows the snow mover blade assembly being inserted into thehandle so that the receiver may be inverted to dump the snow.

FIG. 6D shows the snow receiver pulled into the inverted position sothat the collected snow will fall to the ground.

FIG. 6E shows the snow receiver being lifted up by the handle, leavingthe collected snow on the ground. It is noteworthy that in all theoperations shown in FIGS. 6A through 6E, the user stands erect neverhaving to bend down or perform the strenuous task of tossing snow way upinto the air.

FIG. 7 is a cutaway partial view showing how the snow mover bladeassembly is inserted into the handle slot to place the receiver into theinverted position.

FIG. 8 is a diassembled perspective view showing how the collar assemblyand the container fit together. Also shows a clearer view of the snowshield.

FIG. 9 is a disassembled perspective view of the latch showing how theparts fit together.

FIG. 10A is a cutaway side view of the latch showing the componentpositions when the collar assembly is latched into the front or backposition.

FIG. 10B is a cutaway side view of the latch showing the componentpositions when the collar assembly is being unlatched from the frontposition and being moved to the back position. Also shown is the frontposition hook receiver. The spring tangs are not shown for increasedclarity.

FIG. 10C is a cutaway side view of the latch showing the componentpositions when the collar assembly is being unlatched from the backposition and being moved to the front position. Also shown is the backposition hook receiver. The spring tangs are not shown for increasedclarity.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the cord clamp.

FIG. 12A is an operational view showing how the dig plate of the snowmover initially digs into the snow.

FIG. 12B shows how, as the arm movement continues, the push plate incombination with the dig plate moves snow towards the snow receiver.

FIG. 12C shows the final part of the arm movement wherein the dig plateis now generally parallel to the ground and the snow mover handle isstraight up, allowing snow to be moved on into the snow receiver withoutthe handle hitting the front edge of the receiver top side. Note thatthe changing oreintation of the handle and blade assembly, as shown inFIGS. 12A to 12C, occurs naturally during this arm movement with nospecial effort required of the user.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are top and side views respectively of the snowreceiver handle.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are top and side views respectively of the cord guide.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are top and side views respectively of the frontposition hook receiver.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are top and side views respectively of the backposition hook receiver.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are top and side views respectively of the front stopmeans.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are top and side views respectively of the back stopmeans.

FIG. 19 shows a side view of the lower portion of the item mover asdefined in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,278 B1. Note that the bottom of thehandle is squared off and that nuts protrude out from the back side ofthe handle.

FIG. 20 shows a side view of the lower portion of the snow mover—asdefined in this patent. Note that the bottom of the handle is notsquared off but is beveled upwards and away from the push plate. Alsonote that there are no nuts or screw heads protruding out from the backof the handle. This modification to the original item mover allows theresulting snow mover to more smoothly and with less restriction pushsnow further into the snow receiver.

FIG. 21 is a back side view of the lower portion of the snow moverhandle showing the bevel on the bottom of the handle and the tworecessed screw holes.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a more economical but less efficientenergy wise, alternative form of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention is termed a snow removal device and functions to manuallycollect and move snow from one location to another. Simply stated, itreplaces the common snow shovel but at the same time requires much lessenergy and is much safer to use from the standpoint that it is far lesslikely to cause death from a heart attack or cause back or muscleinjury. Shoveling snow is probably the most strenuous activity that manypeople ever experience, requiring the use of almost every muscle in thebody. When shoveling snow, first you have to bend way over to push theshovel underneath the snow and then lift that snow up from that bentover position, the worst back position to lift a weight, all of which isvery condusive to back injury. Then to toss the snow, the shovel must besuddenly and very swiftly lifted up in order for that snow to gainsufficient velocity to leave the shovel, requiring a tremendous surge offorce and energy. Annually, this results in a substantial number ofdeaths from heart attacks and also numerous cases of back and muscleinjury.

What makes shoveling snow so strenuous is having to overcome theopposing force of gravity, first in lifting the snow from the ground, ordriveway or whatever, and then in tossing the snow way up into the air.One of the major advantages of this invention that greatly reduces therequired energy is that during the whole removal process, the collectedsnow essentially never leaves the ground, thereby almost eliminating thenegative effects of gravity. The need to bend way down to lift a shovelfull of snow up from the ground or to toss snow way up into the air isno longer required. Another energy saving aspect of this device is thatduring almost all of the snow removal process, the user is standingerect, saving the energy required to move the body up and down. Theinventor has calculated that this invention will require less than onetwelveth of the power in ft. lbs. per second of that required fortossing a given amount of snow. What this means is that using thisinvention instead of a snow shovel will save a lot of lives and a lot ofgrief.

To shovel crusted over or frozen snow has always been a daunting task oreven impossible, because for one thing, the shovel is so wide thatforcing the it underneath the frozen snow is extremely difficult. Thento have to break it loose from the adjacent snow when lifting just addsto the difficulty. As will be discussed later, this invention is farsuperior, requiring much less energy than a snow shovel, in performingthis task because of the capability of the snow mover to chop down ontop of the snow, breaking it up so it can be moved on into the snowreceiver in small but quick increments rather than to have push a shovelunderneath and lift a whole shovelfull all at once.

Another advantage of this device is that it is so easy to use that housewives, single mothers, elderly people and even children can use it,greatly expanding the potential pool of buyers and users. As opposed tothis, only a very strong person, usually a man, can wield a snow shovel.Using this device, it would not be unusual for a husband to come hometired from work to find that his wife, or children, had already clearedthe driveway of snow, saving him the trouble.

Compared to a snow shovel, another advantage of this device is that itcan be used in a leisurely fashion at a pace desired by the user. Thereis no such thing as leisurely shoveling snow because the minimum effortto toss snow is actually very great. If you leisurely and slowly try totoss snow, the snow will not leave the shovel. It requires a suddenburst of tremendous energy.

One of the factors in shoveling snow that causes heart attacks is theinnate need people have is that once you start a job is to stay busyuntil that job is finished - and shoveling snow is so strenuous and sofast that people will keep shoveling and shoveling until they have aheart attack. This device will satisfy that innate need to stay busy butwith a lot less effort and a greatly reduced possibility of a heartattack or other injury.

Still another advantage of this invention is that it can be produced andretailed at a price that almost anyone can afford.

Additional advantages of this device will be disclosed in followingparagraphs of this specification.

At this point, it should be stated that this snow removal device waspreceeded by another invention by this inventor titled “Item CollectionDevice”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,278 B1 that has some similarity to thisdevice. The Item Collection Device was designed to collect debris andnon-debris items such as pine cones, pop cans, leaf piles, apples, golfballs, etc., but not snow. The present device, while designed to collectsnow, may also be used to collect debris and non-debris items andtherefore use of this invention is in no way restricted to justcollecting snow.

The two main elements of this invention is the snow receiver (6) and thesnow mover (1), (FIGS. 1 and 2). The snow receiver (6) includes severalcomponents including the container (7) and the collar assembly (37)(FIG. 8) and other components that will be discussed later. Thecontainer (7) is a box-like structure having an open front end (13) forreceiving the input snow. Attached by a hinge means to the front portionof the container bottom side (11) is the collar assembly (37) whichgenerally surrounds the container open front end (13) when the collarassembly (37) is in the front position, as shown in FIG. 1. The lowerportion of the collar assembly (37) is the snow blade (38) whichfunctions to cut into the snow when the snow receiver (6) is pulled intothe snow which occurs when the collar assembly (37) is in the frontposition as shown in FIG. 1. When the collar assembly (37) is placedinto the back position (FIGS. 2 and 6B), the snow blade (38) is in theup position, giving the front end of the snow receiver (6) a sled-likeconfiguration such that the snow filled snow receiver (6) can be easilypulled over the snow or over other obstacles to the dumping area. Thecollar assembly (37) can be placed into the front or the back postionsby using the snow mover push plate (3) to push or pull on the latchactuator lever (56), with the user standing erect, as shown in FIGS. 6 Aand 6B.

In operation, the user of this invention can collect snow in one of twoways, or a combination thereof, either by pulling the snow receiver (6)into the snow by the cord (27) (FIG. 4) or by moving snow into thereceiver (6) with one hand using the snow mover (1) (FIG. 5) which, ineither case, is not very strenuous. And the user can perform bothoperations while standing erect. Another aspect of moving snow in usingthe snow mover (1), which is very light, is that the mover (1) chopsdown on the top of the snow and moves snow in in small light increments(FIGS. 12A, B and C) rather than lifting a whole shovelful up from thebottom of the snow pile all at one time. However, these increments addup quickly as this operation can be performed very rapidly. In theworking model of this invention, the snow mover (1) weighed only 12ounces.

A typical snow removal operation begins with the collar assembly (37) inthe front position wherein this device can be pulled into the snow (FIG.4) or snow moved into the receiver (6) using the snow mover (FIG. 5).Experience with the working model of this invention, using sawdust as areasonable facsimile of snow, has shown that the first step is to pullthe receiver (6) into the sawdust until no more sawdust can beintroduced in this fashion, and then to move more sawdust in using thesnow mover (1). The snow mover (1) can then pack more sawdust in bypushing the mover (1) further on inside the receiver (6) and then moresawdust can be moved in until the receiver (6) is filled.

When the filled snow receiver (6) is ready to be dumped, the collarassembly (37) is then placed into the back position, lifting the snowblade (38) into the up position (FIG. 6B), by placing the snow mover digplate (3) into the latch actuator lever (56) front hook (60) (see FIGS.6B and 10B) and pushing the snow mover (1) towards the rear. Thisinitially unlatches the collar assembly (37) from the front position,and continued pushing and movement will latch the collar assembly (37)into the back position (FIGS. 2 and 6B). This action establishes asled-like configuration at the front end of the snow receiver (6) suchthat the receiver (6) can be easily pulled by the cord (27) over thesnow or other obstacles to the dump area.

The collar assembly (37) is now placed into the front position (FIG. 1),lowering the snow blade (38) into the down position (FIG. 6A), byplacing the snow mover dig plate (3) into the latch actuator lever backhook (61) (see FIGS. 6A and 10C) and pulling the snow mover (1) towardsthe front. This initially unlatches the collar assembly (37) from theback position, and continued pulling and movement will latch the collarassembly (37) into the front position (FIGS. 1 and 6A), which opens upthe open front end of the snow receiver (6) so that the snow can bedumped out.

The handle (15) is located on the back portion of the receiver (6) topside (10) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6C. Now the edge of the snow moverpush plate (2) is inserted into slot (19) of handle (15), as shown inFIGS. 7 and 6C, such that the top surface of the snow mover dig plate(3) engages the bottom surface of the handle hand grip (16).

Then the snow mover handle (4) is pulled up and over (FIGS. 6C and 6D),flipping the snow receiver over such that the receiver open front end(13) is flat agains't the ground, dumping the snow. The user then byhand lifts the snow receiver (6) up by the handle (15), leaving thedumped snow on the ground (FIG. 6E).

The user then lays or drops the snow receiver (6) back onto the groundand places the collar assembly (37) into the back position, aspreviously explained, creating a sled-like configuration of the snowreceiver (6) and the snow receiver (6) is pulled back to the snow areaby the cord (27). The user then places the collar assembly (37) into thefront position, as previously explained, and the snow receiver (6) isnow ready to collect more snow.

Note that during this whole process of snow removal, the snow was alwayson the ground, or in the snow receiver (6) which is on the ground,letting mother earth support the weight of the snow. No tossing snow wayup into the air. No bending way over to lift up a shovel full of snowfrom the ground. Also, the user was always standing erect, never wastingenergy moving his or her body up and down. Whereas the collar assemblyis moved several times to the front or to the back position during thesnow removal process, it should be noted that either of these operationscan be done in an instant.

The item mover previously described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,278 B1 isvery similar to the snow mover (1) described in the patent. It just sohappens that the item mover described in the previous patent is alsoideal for chopping into and moving snow but was improved in this patentwith two modifications for more efficient snow removal. In FIG. 19, aside view of the lower portion of the previous item mover is shown. Notethat the bottom end of the handle is squared off and also that nutsprotrude out on the back side of the handle. In FIG. 20 is a side lowerview of the snow mover (1). Note in this figure that in the bottom endof the handle (4) is a bevel (109) that bevels upwards and away from theback of the push plate (2) and also that no nuts protrude out beyond theback of the handle (4). FIG. 21 is a back view of the lower portion ofhandle (4) showing the bevel and the two screw holes (33) and a recesses(110) around each hole (33) that prevents the nuts, or screw heads asthe case may be, from protruding out beyond the back of the handle. Thereason for these two modifications is that the snow mover (1) is alsoused to push snow further on into the receiver (6) by inserting itfurther on into the snow receiver (6). When this is done, the handle (4)approaches being parallel to the snow receiver (6) bottom side (11) andthe bottom end and back of the handle (4) will engage said side (11). Bybeveling the handle (4) bottom end and eliminating any protruding nutsallows the snow mover bottom portion to be lower, pushing more snow backon into the snow receiver (6) and also provides for a smoother, lessresistive, inward movement. The push plate (2) is termed the “strikingmeans” and the dig plate (3) is termed the “lifting means” in theprevious patent. Other than the two above mentioned modifications, thesnow mover (1) is identical to the item mover described in U.S. Pat. No.6,398,278 B1. In this patent, the dig plate (3) was so termed because onthe initial part of stroke this plate dug into the snow (FIG. 12A) andthe push plate (2) so termed because on the final part of the stroke(FIG. 12C) it pushes the snow on into the snow receiver (6).

A snow mover that is capable of moving any hardness snow that is withinthe capability of a snow shovel would be very light, somewhere withinthe range of 12 ounces and this mover (1) is the one that would bemarketed with this invention. But for snow that is frozen solid, which ashovel can't move, a separate special snow mover could be marketedhaving heavier dig and push plates (3,2), for example made of ⅛ or ¼inch thick hard steel with a sharpened dig plate edge, and possibly notas wide as the plates of the standard snow mover. The general shape,however, is the same as the standard snow mover. This special movercould be lifted high above the head with one arm and swung down in along arc and hit with a terrific force that should break up almost anyhardness snow. And this activity would not require a great amount ofenergy since only one arm is used. However, the standard light snowmover will out perform a snow shovel in soft or crusted over snow. Aswritten, this patent should cover either type mover since the onlydifference is size.

Referencing FIGS. 1 and 2, the snow receiver (6) includes the container(7), rear handle (15), collar assembly (37), hinge means (22) thatrotatably connects the container (7) to the collar assembly (37),latching means which includes the latch (48), front position hookreceiver (86), front stop means (100), back position hook receiver (93),back stop means (104), cord (27), cord guides (43) and cord clamps (29).

Whereas the container (7) is shown in FIGS. 1,2 and 8 and in otherfigures, with perpendicularly joined sides, creating a box likeconfiguration, it is possible to have a satifactorily functioningcontainer configuration where, for example, the sides are notperpendicularly joined. Indeed, the top, left and right sides could beof a semicircular design as was the working model of this invention.However, in the preferred embodiment of this invention, the container(7) would be configured as shown, although most likely in the actualmanufactured versions, the side joints would be rounded instead of atsharp right angles as shown, because rounded joints provide morestructural strength.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention and referencing FIG. 8,the container (7) is generally a box like structure having a right side(8), left side (9), top side (10), bottom side (11), back side (12) andthe open front end (13) where all sides join any adjacent side in agenerally perpendicular fashion. All sides are generally flat whereinthe top side (10) and bottom side (11) are generally parallel and theright side (8) and left side (9) are also generally parallel. Attachedto or made onto the front edge of the bottom side (11) is a half hinge(23), which is similar to half of a standard cabinet hinge with the pinremoved, having alternating rounded protrusions (24) and recesses (25).The rounded protrusions (24) contain hinge pin holes (112), said holes(112) being centered on the rounded portion of the protrusions (24).

At, or near, the hinge pin hole (112) on the right side (8) and leftside (9), inclined side edges (14) proceed upwards and forward andterminates at the upper front edge (135) of the right side (8) and theleft side (9). The purpose of the resulting configuration, i.e.,eliminating that portion of the right and left sides, is to allow spacesuch that the collar assembly snow blade (38) may freely move into theup position which occurs when the collar assembly (37) is placed intothe back position, as shown in FIG. 2. The snow shield (132) extendsupwards from the front top edge of the top side (10). The purpose of thesnow shield (132) is to prevent snow from entering the mechanism of thelatch (48), which could interfere with the operation of the latch (48).This is particularly possible when the snow receiver (6) is flipped overonto the open front side (13) to dump snow. The snow shield (132) shouldextend upwards no further than is necessary to shield that portion ofthe latch (48) mechanism contained within the latch frame (49) but notso high as to prevent the snow mover dig plate (3) easy access to thelatch actuator lever (56). The front surface of the snow shield (132)and the upper front edges (135) are in the same plane, said plane beinggenerally parallel to the plane established by the back side (12). It isalso true that when the collar assembly (37) is rotatably attached tothe container (6) that the snow blade front edge (42) and the lowerportion of the collar assembly (37) are in said plane, providing astable upright configuration when the receiver (6) is flipped over ontothe open front end to dump snow.

As shown in FIG.8, the collar assembly (37) includes the snow blade(38), and the right side (39) which joins and extends upwards from thesnow blade (38) right edge and the left side (40) which joins andextends upwards from the snow blade (38) left edge and the connectingbar (41) which joins the top surface of the right side (39) and extendsto and joins the top surface of the left side (40). The snow blade (38)is flat and the blade front edge (42) is in a straight line. Attached toor made onto the back edge of the of the snow blade (38) is another halfhinge (23) which is similar to half of a standard cabinet hinge with thepin removed, having alternating rounded protrusions (24) containinghinge pin holes (112) and recesses (25). When the collar assembly (37)is rotatably joined to the container (7) by merging the two half hinges(23) and inserting the hinge pin (26) through the hinge pin holes (112),the half hinges (23) are so arranged that the longitudinal axis of thehinge pin (26) is generally perpindicular the container right side (8)and left side (9). As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6A and 6B, as the collarassembly (37) is rotated over the hinge pin (26), the collar assemblyright side (39), left side (40) and connecting bar (41) move on theoutside of the container (7) and the snow blade (38) moves up or down infront of the container open front end (13).

The snow blade front edge (42) is generally sharp to facilitate cuttingthrough the snow as is the lower front edges of the collar assemblyright side (39) and left side (40). The straight line established by theblade front edge (42) is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hingepin (26). Note in FIG. 1 that in the front position, the collar assembly(37) is configured such that the connecting bar (41) is sufficientlyspaced back from the container top side (10) front edge and snow shieldto allow the attachment of the front position hook receiver (86) and thefront stop means (100).

As shown in FIG. 4, when the snow receiver (6) is placed on a flathorizontal surface and the snow blade (38) is in the down position, thesnow blade front edge (42) exists below that part of the containerbottom side (11) that contains half hinge (23) because of the angle Cslope of the snow blade (38). This situation results in that part of thebottom side (11) being higher above the flat surface than the bladefront edge (42), leaving only the blade front edge (42) and thecontainer back side bottom edge (111) in contact with the flat surface.This ensures that as the snow receiver (6) is pulled into the snow, theblade front edge (42) will make a clean sweep of the snow. Aiding ineffecting a clean sweep is that as the receiver (6) is pulled into thesnow, the snow blade (38) offers an inclined surface to the snow whereinthe incomming snow will apply a downward force to the blade front edge(42), providing an even cleaner sweep.

The function of the latch means is to latch the collar assembly (37)into the front position (FIG. 1), which places the snow blade (38) intothe down position, or to latch the collar assembly (37) into the backposition (FIG. 2), which places the snow blade (38) into the upposition. There are many different latch designs that could accomplishthis function, but the following describes the latch means designutilized in the preferred embodiment of this invention.

The latch means includes the latch (48), front position hook receiver(86), front stop means (100), back position hook receiver (93) and theback stop means (104).

Referencing FIG. 9, the latch (48) includes the frame (49), actuatorlever (56), back latch lever (68), front latch lever (78) two coiledtorsion springs (107) and the shaft (55).

Referencing FIGS. 9 and 10A, B and C, the frame (49) is U shaped, havinga bottom side (50), wherein the right side (53) joins the right edge ofbottom side (53) and extends upwards in a generally perpendicularfashion wherein the left side (54) joins the left edge of bottom side(53) and extends upwards in a generally perpendicular fashion whereinboth the right side (53) and left side (54) extend upwards sufficientlyhigh to offer side protection to the lower portion of the latch (48)mechanism. Formed through both right side (53) and left side (54) isshaft hole (36), said holes to receive shaft (55) wherein said holes(36) are oppositly disposed and so positioned that the longitudinal axisof the shaft (55) is generally perpendicular to the right side (53) andleft side (54).

Referencing FIGS. 9 and 10A, B and C, the top portion of the actuatorlever (56) is the horizontal top plate (58). Joined to a central portionof the bottom of the top plate (58) is arm (59) which extends downwardin a fashion generally perpendicular to the top plate (58) and joins thebase plate (62) in a generally perpendicular fashion. The top platefront portion (65) extends out in a forward direction further than thefront surface of arm (59) such that the front portion (65) and the arm(59), in combination, form the actuator front hook (60). The top plateback portion (66) extends out in a rearwards direction further than theback surface of arm (59) such that the back portion (66) and the arm(59), in combination, form the actuator back hook (61). On either sideof the base plate (62), bearing flanges (67) extend downward from acentral portion of the base plate (62) wherein in the lower portion ofthe flanges (67) shaft holes (36) are formed in, said shaft holes (36),being oppositely disposed, to receive shaft (55) when the latch (48) isassembled, wherein the two bearing flanges (67) are joined to the baseplate (62) in an oreintation to allow rotation of the actuator lever(56) over the shaft (55) when the actuator lever arm (59) is moved tothe front or back. The outside width of the base plate (62) and bearingflanges (67) are so dimensioned to fit within and adjacent to the frameright side (53) and left side (54). The inside distance between theflanges (67) is sufficient to cradle, or include between, both the backlatch lever (68) and the front latch lever (78).

Referencing FIGS. 9 and 10A, B and C, the back latch lever (68) includesthe rotation stop (72) member wherein the rotation stop (72) begins atthe rotation stop bottom surface (73) and extends upwards to join theflat portion (70) wherein the flat portion (70) proceeds horizontallyand rearwardly to join the inclined portion (74) wherein the inclinedportion (74) proceeds upwards and rearwardly from the flat portion (70)to join the engagement portion (75), wherein the engagement portion (75)proceeds downwardly from the inclined portion (74) and terminates in theengagement portion bottom surface (76), wherein the inclined portion(74) and the engagement portion (75) in combination form the backposition hook (77).

Proceeding downward on either side of the flat portion (70) andoppositely disposed are the two bearing flanges (69) wherein in thelower portions thereof shaft holes (36) are formed in, said shaft holes(36) to receive shaft (55) when the latch (48) is assembled, wherein thebearing flanges (69) are sufficiently spaced apart to cradle, orinclude, a coiled torsion spring (107).

Referencing FIGS. 9 and 10A, B and C, the front latch lever (78)includes the rotation stop (83) member wherein the rotation stop (83)begins at the rotation stop bottom surface (84) and extends upwards tojoin the flat portion (80) wherein the flat portion (80) proceedshorizontally and forewardly to join the engagement portion (81), whereinthe engagement portion (81) proceeds downwardly from the flat portion(80) and terminates in the engagement bottom surface (82), wherein theflat portion (80) and the engagement portion (81) in combination formthe front position hook (85). Proceeding downward on either side of theflat portion (80) and oppositely disposed are the two bearing flanges(79) wherein in the lower portions thereof shaft holes (36) are formedin, said shaft holes (36) to receive shaft (55) when the latch (48) isassembled, wherein the bearing flanges (79) are sufficiently spacedapart to cradle, or include in between, a coiled torsion spring (107).

Referencing FIGS. 9 and 10A, B and C, the configuration of the assembledlatch (48) is hereby described wherein the lower portion of the actuatorlever (56), said lower portion being the base plate (62) and the twobearing flanges (67), resides between and is adjacent to the frame rightside (53) and the frame left side (54) wherein the back latch lever (68)and the front latch lever (78) are placed side by side and reside belowthe base plate (62) and between the actuator lever right bearing flang(67) and left bearing flange (67) wherein the back latch lever backposition hook (77) extends out rearwards of the bottom side back edge(52) and the front latch lever front position hook (85) extends outforward of the frame bottom side front edge (51) wherein a coiledtorsion spring (107) resides between the two bearing flanges (69) shaftholes (36) of the back latch lever (68) wherein the center longitudinalhole of said spring (107) is in alignment with the two holes (36)wherein one tang (108) engages the frame bottom side (50) and the othertang (108) engages the underside of back latch lever flat portion (70)in an oreintation that urges the back position hook (77) to the downposition wherein a coiled torsion spring (107) resides between the twobearing flanges (79) of the front latch lever (78) shaft holes (36) ofthe front latch lever (78) wherein the center longitudinal hole of saidspring (107) is in alignment with the two holes (36) wherein one tang(108) engages the frame bottom side (50) and the other tang (108)engages the bottom side of the front latch lever flat portion (80) in anoreintation that urges the front position hook (85) to the down positionwherein the shaft (55) is engaged through all shaft holes (36) of theframe (49), actuator lever (56), back latch lever (68) and the frontlatch lever (78) and also through the center longitudinal holes of thetwo coiled torsion springs (107).

In FIGS. 10A, B and C, in keeping with the same oreintation shown inFIG. 9, to the right is towards the back of this device, to the left istowards the front, things shown nearest the viewer is on the right sideof the latch and things shown furtherest away are on the left side. FIG.10A is a cut away side view of the latch (48) wherein the frame rightside (53) and the actuator lever right bearing flange are cut away forincreased clarity. FIG. 10A shows the mechanical configuration thatwould exist when the collar assembly (37) is latched into the frontposition or the back position wherein no force is being applied to thelatch actuator lever (56). The respective coiled torsion springs (107)of the back latch lever (68) and the front latch lever (78) have forcedthe back portion of the flat portion (70) of back latch lever (68) toengage the frame bottom side back top edge (52) and also forced thefront portion of the flat portion (80) of the front latch lever (78) toengage the frame bottom side front top edge (51). This forces the backposition hook (77) of the back latch lever (68) in the down position andalso forces the front position hook (85) of the front latch lever (78)in the down position The actuator lever base plate (62) is in closeproximity to, or in slight contact with, the respective latch levers (68and 78) but is applying no force to either, however this relativepositioning of the two latch levers (68 and 78) and the actuator baseplate (62) retain the actuator lever (56) in a straight up, or neuttral,position allowing a minimum of unnecessary front or back movement, orwobble, of the actuator lever (56). The latch (48) is shown attached tothe collar assembly connecting bar (41) in a cut away view.

In FIG. 10B, the latch (48) is shown being unlatched from the frontposition hook receiver (86) wherein the snow remover dig plate (3)engages the actuator lever front hook (60) and pushed rearwards by theuser, rotating the actuator lever (56) over shaft (55) causing the backbottom edge (64) of the actuator lever base plate (62) to engage thefront latch lever flat portion (84) to the rear of shaft (55), liftingthe front position hook (85) sufficiently high up enough to allowdisengagement of the hook (85) from the engagement surface (91) of thefront position hook receiver (86) wherein further rotation of theactuator lever (56) is prevented by the engagement of the bottom surface(82) of the rotation stop (83) to the frame bottom side (50) whereincontinued force applied to the actuator lever (56) by the snow mover (1)rotates the collar assembly (37) over hinge shaft (26) to move thecollar assembly (37) to the back position whereupon the bottom surface(76) of the back position hook (77)—{see FIG. 10C for back position hookreceiver (93) view}—will engage the top surface (96) of the backposition hook receiver (93) at a position on said top surface (89) nearthe front edge (99) wherein the downward component of the collarassembly continued arc movement will lift the back position hook (77)upwards relative to the frame bottom side (50) until the until said hookbottom surface (76) passes over the drop point (97) of said hookreceiver (93) whereupon the coiled torsion spring (107) will force theback position hook (77) down to engage the engagement surface (98) saidhook receiver (93) thereby lattching the collar assembly (37) in theback position wherein further backward movement of the collar assembly(37) is prevented by engagement of the back edge of the collar assemblyconnecting bar (41) with the back stop means (104).

In FIG. 10C, the latch (48) is shown being unlatched from the backposition hook receiver (93) wherein the snow remover dig plate (3)engages the actuator lever front hook (61) and is pulled forward by theuser, rotating the actuator lever (56) over shaft (55) causing the frontbottom edge (63) of the actuator lever base plate (62) to engage theback latch lever flat portion (70) forward of shaft (55), lifting theback position hook (77) sufficiently high up enough to allowdisengagement of the hook (77) from the engagement surface (98) of theback position hook receiver (93) wherein further rotation of theactuator lever (56) is prevented by the engagement of the bottom surface(73) of the rotation stop (72) to the frame bottom side (50) whereincontinued force applied to the actuator lever (56) by the snow mover (1)rotates the collar assembly (37) over hinge shaft (26) to move thecollar assembly (37) to the front position whereupon the bottom surface(82) of the front position hook (85)—{see FIG. 10B for front positionhook receiver (86) view}—will engage the top surface (89) of the frontposition hook receiver (86) at a position on said top surface (89) nearthe back edge (92) wherein the downward component of the collar assemblycontinued arc movement will lift the front position hook (85) upwardsrelative to the frame bottom side (50) until the until said hook bottomsurface (82) passes over the drop point (90) of said front position hookreceiver (86) whereupon the coiled torsion spring (107) will force thefront position hook (85) down to engage the engagement surface (91) ofsaid hook receiver (86) thereby latching the collar assembly (37) in thefront position wherein further forward movement of the collar assembly(37) is prevented by engagement of the front edge of the collar assemblyconnecting bar (41) with the front stop means (100).

The geometry of this device, as defined here, has to do with themagnitude of the angle C which is the downward angle of snow blade (38)relative to the container bottom side (11) when the collar assembly (37)is in the front position (FIG. 3), the magnitude of the angle A which isthe upward angle of snow blade (38) relative to the container bottomside (11) when the collar assembly (37) is in the back position (FIG.6B), the front to back length of the snow blade (38), the overalllength, width and height of the snow receiver (6) the front to backplacement of the collar assembly hinge means (22) and any other variableparameter that would affect the performance and cost of this device.Obviously, there is a substantial range of possible parameter valuesthat could be used that would still result in a device that functionedsatisfactorily. For example, in the working model of this device, theangle A is 32 degrees and the angle C is 6 degrees and with theseparticular angles, the working model functioned very satifactorially.However, these figures were chosen by the inventor as functionallycapable and is not to say, for example, that an angle A of 45 degreesand an angle C of 10 degrees would perform just as well, or even better.It would require a significant amount of empirical testing in actualsnow to determine an optimum set of parameter values which, in reality,may not really exist since the size and strength of all potential usersvaries so greatly such that the finally determined values would have bea trade off. However, the angle C should be of a high enough value toassure (see FIG. 4) that the snow blade front edge (42) and the bottomside back edge (111) are the only two parts of the snow receiver (6)touching the surface under most snow removal conditions. At the sametime, however it must be kept in mind that greater the angle C is, thegreater is the incline of the snow blade (38), which will requireincreased energy to move the snow back on into the snow receiver (6).This being said, the working model of this device with the chosengeometric values has been sufficiently tested to prove that this deviceis a very satisfactorily functioning invention.

Viewing the latch (48) in FIG. 10A, it is seen that back latch lever(68) includes an inclined portion (74) that is omitted in the frontlatch lever (78), which results in the back position hook (77) beingpositioned higher up and further away from the latch frame (49) than thefront position hook (85). This back latch lever design allows the collarassembly (37) to be rotated further back (FIG. 6B), providing a greaterangle A if desired. In this situation, the collar assembly connectingbar (41) will be very near, or even contacting, the container top side(10). By having the back position hook (77) raised and out of the wayallows the connecting bar (41) to come closer, or even engaging, thecontainer top side (10), thereby providing a greater angle A. It shouldbe noted here that the shape of the various components in this patent isbased in large part on the shape of their counterpart components used inthe working model as it was a successful performer. It is very possiblethat another design of this device having different geometric parameterscould result in a front latch lever and a back latch lever being ofidentical design which offers the advantage of commonality ofcomponents.

The front position hook receiver (86) and the back position hookreceiver (93) appear in the drawings to be identical. However, becauseof the particular design geometry that might exist in the manufacturedversions of this device, it is very possible that the angle of attack ofthe latch (48) when approaching the front position is different fromthat when approaching the back position. This could result in contour ofthe top surface of one being different from the other in order toprovide smooth engagement of the front (78) or back (68) latch leverover their respective hook receivers. Also, the lengths of the tworeceivers (86, 93) could be different. Since these two components couldend up being different is the reason they were given different partnumbers. In the drawings, the top surfaces are shown as a straight flatsurface and should be considered as a generic contour wherein theremainder of the basic design is common to both components.

As seen in FIGS. 2, 10B, 15A and B, the basic design of the frontposition hook receiver (86), which is attached to the front portion ofthe container top side (10), includes a flat horizontal base (87) fromwhich the flange (88) extends upwards in a vertical fashion from thecenter portion of the base (87)and terminates at the top surface (89).The slanted engagement surface (91) begins at the drop point (90) whichis located on the front end of the top surface (89) and continuesdownward and to the rear, terminating at the bottom surface of the base(87). The back edge (92),which begins at a point on the top surface (89)that is a sufficient distance from the drop point (90) to assure thatthe engagement of the front latch lever hook (85) is onto the topsurface (89), extends downward in a vertical fashion and terminates atthe base (87) wherein the contour of the top surface is determined bythe geometry of thid device.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 10C, 16A and B, the basic design of the backposition hook receiver (93), which is attached to a rearwards portion ofthe container top side (10), includes a flat horizontal base (94) fromwhich the flange (95) extends upwards in a vertical fashion from thecenter portion of the base (94)and terminates at the top surface (96).The slanted engagement surface (98) begins at the drop point (97) whichis located on the rear end of the top surface (96) and continuesdownward and to the front, terminating at the bottom surface of the base(94). The front edge (99), which begins at a point on the top surface(96) that is a sufficient distance from the drop point (97) to assurethat the engagement of the back latch lever hook (77) is onto the topsurface (96), extends downward in a vertical fashion and terminates atthe base (94) wherein the contour of the top surface is determined bythe geometry of this device.

The front and back stop means function to prevent further rotationalmovement of the collar assembly (37) once said assembly is moved to thefront position or back position. Of course, the geometry in the designof this device could be such that the container top side (10) could actas a stop means, thereby eliminating the need for additional componentsfor this function. However, in the preferred embodiment of thisinvention, seperate components will be utilized for this function, asshown in FIGS. 1, 2, 17A and B and 18A and B, as this allows morefreedom and flexibility in the geometry of the design of this invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front stop means (100) is attached to the frontportion of the container top side (10) and engages the front edge of thecollar assembly connecting bar (41) after the front latch lever frontposition hook (85) is engaged over the front position hook receiver (86)and, as shown in FIG. 2, the back stop means (104) is attached furtherback on the container top side (10) and engages the back edge of thecollar assembly connecting bar (41) after the back latch lever backposition hook (77) is engaged over the back position hook receiver (93).

The front stop means (100), as shown in FIGS. 17A and B, includes theflat horizontal base (101), which is attached to the container top side(10), and the lateral portion (102) which extends upwards and towardsthe front from the base (101) at an angle E . The lateral portion (102)engages the front edge of the collar assembly connecting bar (41) whenstopping further front movement of said collar assembly (37). Angle E issuch that the surface of the lateral portion (102) is perpendicular tothe angle of attack of the connecting bar (41) at the point ofengagement, thereby preventing any up or down skewing force beingapplied to the collar assembly (37). The angle of attack of the collarassembly connecting bar (41) is determined by the geometry of the devicedesign.

The back stop means (104), as shown in FIGS. 18A and B, includes theflat horizontal base (105), which is attached to the container top side(10), and the lateral portion (106) which extends upwards and to therear from the base (105) at an angle F The lateral portion (106) engagesthe back edge of the collar assembly connecting bar (41) when stoppingfurther back movement of said collar assembly (37). Angle F is such thatthe surface of the lateral portion (106) is perpendicular to the angleof attack of the connecting bar (41) at the point of engagement, therebypreventing any up or down skewing force being applied to the collarassembly (37). The angle of attack of the collar assembly connecting bar(41) is determined by the geometry of the device design. It possiblethat angles E and F will be different.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 13A and B, the handle (15) is attached to rearportion of the container top side (10) very near the container back side(12) (FIG. 4) and centered between the container right side (8) and leftside (9). Assume the handle hand grip (16) is in a horizontal plane. Thehandle (15), includes the hand grip (16) and on either end of said grip(16), posts (17) extends downward in generally perpendicular fashion,terminating at bases (18), said bases (18) extending outwardly fromtheir respective posts (17) in a direction away from hand grip (16) andterminating. The two bases (18), having screw holes (33), are attachedto the container top side (10). The hand grip (16) has a front edge (20)and a back edge (21) wherein the back edge (21) is parallel to the planeestablished by the container back side (12). A slot (19) begins at thecenter of the back edge (21) and proceeds towards the front edge (20) ina fashion perpiendicular to the back edge (21) and terminates prior toreaching the front edge (20). Referencing FIG. 7, the slot (19) width issufficient to receive the edge of the snow mover push plate (2) whensaid plate (2) is inserted into said slot (19), resulting in the digplate (3) being moved underneath the hand grip (16) wherein the distancefrom the slot (19) to either post (17) is sufficient to receive the digplate (2) (see FIG. 7). The handle (15) is also of a size and shape thatcan be easily grasped by the hand and used to lift the snow receiver (6)up and about.

The reasons the handle (15) is attached near the container back side(12) are that when the snow mover (1) is used to flip the snow receiver(6) over onto the open front end (13) to dump the snow (see FIG. 6D),this location provides free space for the snow mover dig plate (3) torotate and not engage the container top side (12) and also in thisposition, the handle (15) higher up for easier access by the user tolift the snow receiver (6) up to dump the snow as shown in FIG. 6E.

As seen in FIG. 1, the cord (27) is a loop and either end is attached tothe container (6) by cord clamps (29) on the lower portion of the rightside (8) and the left side (9) in a location near and to the rear of thecollar assembly hinge pin hole (112), said clamp (29) locations beingoppositely disposed. The reason the cord (27) is attached on the lowerportion of the container (6) is that if the cord (27) was attachedhigher up near the container top side (10), and the snow receiver (6)was pulled into snow, it would lift the container back side (12) up andflip it over. Referencing FIG.4, the reason the cord (27) is notattached closer to the open front end (13), say like on the lower sidesof the collar assembly (37), is that in a closer location, the cord (27)would come into contact with the snow as the snow receiver (6) is beingpulled into the snow because the cord is inclined upwards towards theuser's hand, presenting a sled-like configuration, wherein such aconfiguration would tend to lift the snow blade (38) upwards, preventinga clean sweep. By attaching the cord (27) more to the rear, the cord hasinclined to a higher position at the open front end (13) and is abovethe incomming snow.

However, by attaching the cord (27) some distance back from the openfront end (13) presented a control problem such as when the cord (27) ispulled sideways to turn the snow receiver (6), the cord (27) tends toflip over onto the container top side (10), getting entangled behind thelatch (48), or flipping under the receiver (6), resulting in lost timeand aggrevation in trying to flip the cord (27) back into position.Furthermore, direction control of the snow receiver (6) in general isnot as good as would be if the cord (27) was attached nearer the openfront end (13). This problem was solved by attaching cord guides (43)(see FIGS. 1 and 4) on the right and left sides (39,40) of the collarassembly (37), in an oppositely disposed fashion, near the open frontend (13) with the cord (27) threaded between the collar assembly sidesand the guides (43). This retained the cord (27) near the open front end(13) thus prevented the cord (27) from flipping backwards over the topside (10) or under the bottom side (11), and also provided better cordcontrol in general because the cord guides (43) effectively providedcord control from near the open front end (13).

Referencing FIG. 14A and B, the cord guide (43) includes the bar (46),two posts (45) and two bases (44), said bases (44) having screw holes(33) wherein if the bar is in a horizontal plane, the posts (45) extenddownward from either end of the bar (46) in a generally perpendicularfashion and terminate at bases (44) wherein said bases (44) extendoutwardly and away from the bar (46) in a generally perpendicularfashion from the posts (45) and terminate. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4,the cord guides (43) are attached to the collar assembly sides (39, 40)in an oreintation wherein the front edge of bar (46) are near to andequidistant from the front edge of the open front end (13). The lengthof the posts (45) is sufficient to provide enough space between the bar(46) and its respective collar assembly side to allow free up and downmovement of the cord (27). The length of the bar (46) and location ofcord guide (43) on the collar asembly (37) are, in combination,sufficient to allow the snow receiver (6) to be pulled forward in mostusage circumstances without the cord (27) ever engaging either post(45).

As seen in FIG. 1, the cord (27) is one piece and has one or more knots(28) which act as hand grasps to pull the snow receiver (6). Also, theloop (133) on the outer end of the cord (27)can be used as a hand grasp.

The cord clamp (29), as shown in in FIG. (11) includes a rounded portion(31) and two bases (30). Extending out from either end of the roundedportion (31) are the bases (30), said bases having a screw hole (133).The rounded portion (31) is clamped over the cord. (27). The cord clamps(29) are attached oppositely disposed to the container right and leftsides (8, 9) using screws (32), washers (34) and nuts (35). It isimportant that the two cord line segments, from the hand grasp to thetwo cord clamps (43), be equal in order for snow receiver (6) to pointin the same direction as the pulling force. This adjustment is easilyaccomplished by loosening the cord clamp screws (32) such that the cord(27) may be slipped one way or the other under the clamps (29) untilcord segment equality exists, then the clamp screws are tightend for asecure attachment.

A Simpler Alternative Device

A simpler but less energy efficient alternative device is shown inFIG.22. The advantage of this device is that is cheaper to manufacturebecause it has no rotatable collar assembly or latch means. The snowblade (127) is permanently fixed in place in a sloped down position tocollect snow. In other words, this device has no capability to place theopen front end (128) into a sled-like configuration. The disadvantage ofthis, and it is major, is that when the snow receiver (120) is snowfilled, the user must lift and hold the open front end (128) up from theground by the cord (27) with one hand as the snow receiver (120) isbeing pulled to the dump area or any place else, else the snow blade(127) would dig into the ground, greatly impeding any forward movement.Having to hold the front end up and pull at the same time is very tiringto the arm and also requires a lot of energy. However, there may be amarket for this alternative device as some people may be willing toperform this extra task in order to save money, and that is the reasonthis alternative device is included in this patent.

This alternative device utilizes the same snow mover (1), handle (15),cord (27), cord clamps (29) and cord guides (43) as the preferredembodiment of this device.

The two main elements of the alternative form of this invention are thesnow mover (1) and the snow receiver (120), as shown in FIG. 22. Thesnow receiver (120) includes the container (121), cord (27), handle(15), cord guides (43) and the cord clamps (29).

As shown in FIG. 22, the container (121) is a box like structure havinga right side (122), left side (123), top side (124), back side (126),bottom side (125), snow blade (127) and open front end (128). The snowblade (127) joins the bottom side (125) at junction J and extendsforward with a downward slope, terminating at the snow blade front edge(129) wherein the angle magnitude of said slope is sufficient to assurethat the blade front edge (129) and the back side bottom edge (131) arethe only parts engaging a flat horizontal surface when the container(12) is placed on said surface. All sides join adjacent sides in agenerally perpendicular fashion except at junction J where the bottomside (125) joins the snow blade (127). The front edges of the right side(122), left side (123), top side (124) and the snow blade front edge(129) all lie in the same plane, said plane being generally parallel tothe plane of the back side (126).

The handle (15) is attached to the container top side (124) near theback edge of the top side (124) and centered between the right side(122) and left side (123) wherein the back edge (21) is parallel to theplane established by the container back side (126).

As seen in FIG.22, the cord (27) is a loop having one or more knots (28)and either end is attached to the container (121) by cord clamps (29).The cord clamps (29) are attached on the lower portion of the right side(122) and the left side (123) in a location near junction J, said clamps(29) locations being oppositely disposed.

As shown in FIG. 22, the cord guides (43) are attached near the frontedges of the right and left sides (122, 123) in an oreintation whereinthe front edges of both cord guide bars (46) are equidistant from thefront edges of said right and left sides (122 and 123) wherein the cordguides are oppositly disposed wherein the cord (27) is threaded throughsaid cord guides (43).

In the snow collection operation, the user can collect snow in one oftwo ways, or a combination thereof, either by pulling the snow receiver(120) into the snow by the cord (27) or by moving snow into the receiver(120) with one hand using the snow mover (1). However, the user mustlift up the front end of the snow receiver (120) to pull it to the dumparea, or back.

The procedure to dump the snow is the same as used for the preferredembodiment of this invention. The snow mover push plate (2) is engagedinto the handle slot (19) to flip the snow receiver over onto the openfront end (128), dumping the snow.

This alternative device, while designed to collect snow, may also beused to collect debris and non-debris items and therefore use of thisinvention is in no way restricted to just collecting snow.

1. A snow removal device comprising: (a) a snow mover that is identicalto the item mover previously described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,278 B1except for two modifications described in this patent wherein if thehandle is in a vertical position with the lower end of the handleattached to the push plate wherein the push plate is termed a strikingmeans in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,278 B1 wherein in this patent onemodification is that the bottom of the handle is beveled upwards andoutwards away from the push plate said bevel terminating on the handleback side, wherein a second modification is that the two screw holes onthe back side of the handle are recessed to prevent the attaching screwheads or nuts from protruding out beyond the surface of the handle backside; (b) a container that is of generally a box like structure having aright side, left side, top side, bottom side, back side and an openfront end wherein the bottom side is flat wherein when said container isplaced on a flat horizontal surface, the back side would be generallyperpendicular to that horizontal surface wherein attached to the frontedge of the bottom side is a half hinge which is similar to half of astandard cabinet hinge with the pin removed, said half hinge havingalternating rounded protrusions and recesses wherein the roundedprotrusions contain hinge pin holes, said holes being centered on therounded portion of the protrusions wherein said protrusions in this halfhinge would be received by recesses in the half hinge attached to therear of the collar assembly snow blade wherein at, or near, the hingepin hole in the container right side and left side, said sides proceedin an incline upwards and forward and terminate at the upper front edgeof the right side and the left side thereby providing space in the rightand left sides such that the collar assembly snow blade may freelyrotatably move into the up position wherein the container right side andleft side upper front edges proceed upwards and terminate at the frontedge of the top side wherein said upper front edges and the front edgeof the top side are in a plane that is generally parallel to the planeof the back side wherein the snow shield extends upwards from the frontedge of the top side in same plane as the upper front edges but extendsno further up than is necessary to shield that portion of the latchmechanism contained within the latch frame from snow when the snowreceiver is dumped wherein the snow receiver includes the container,collar assembly, latch means, handle, cord, cord clamps and cord guidesin an assembled state; (c) a collar assembly that includes a snow blade,right side, left side, connecting bar and a half hinge wherein, assumingthe snow blade is resting in a horizontal plane, the right side extendsupwards from the snow blade right edge and the left side extends upwardsfrom the snow blade left edge and the connecting bar joins the top endof the right side and extends to and joins the top end of the left sidewherein the latch portion of the latch means is attached to the topsurface of the connecting bar wherein the snow blade is flat and theblade front edge is in a straight line wherein attached to the back edgeof the of the snow blade is the collar assembly half hinge, said halfhinge having alternating rounded protrusions and recesses wherein therounded protrusions contain hinge pin holes, said holes being centeredon the rounded portion of the protrusions wherein the collar assembly isrotatably joined to the container by merging the two half hinges andinserting the hinge pin through the hinge pin holes thereby creating acomplete hinge wherein the hinge is so placed that the longitudinal axisof the hinge pin is generally perpendicular the container right side andleft side wherein when the collar assembly is rotatably moved over thehinge pin, the collar assembly right side, left side and connecting barmove on the outside of the container and the snow blade moves up or downin front of the container open front end wherein the snow blade frontedge and the lower front edges of the collar assembly right side andleft sides are generally sharp to facilitate cutting through the snowwhen the snow receiver is pulled into the snow wherein the straight lineestablished by the snow blade front edge is parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the hinge pin wherein the collar assembly is configured suchthat when the collar assembly is rotatably moved to and latched into afront position by the latch means, said position attained by rotatablymoving the connecting bar in a general direction towards the containeropen front end, the connecting bar is sufficiently spaced back from thecontainer top side front edge and snow shield to allow the attachment ofthe front position hook receiver and the front stop means, both of whichare attached near the container top side front edge wherein when thesnow receiver is placed on a flat horizontal surface and the collarassembly is rotatably moved into the front position, the snow blade isalso rotatably moved down to a blade down position placing the snowblade at a slope angle C relative to the plane of the container bottomside such that the snow blade front edge exists below that part of thecontainer bottom side that contains the half hinge, resulting in thatpart of the bottom side being higher above the flat surface than theblade front edge, leaving only the blade front edge and the containerback side bottom edge in contact with the flat surface, wherein when thecollar assembly is rotatably moved to and latched into a back positionby the latch means, said position attained by rotatably moving theconnecting bar in a general direction towards the container back side,the snow blade is also rotatably moved up to a blade up position placingthe snow blade at an angle A relative to the plane of the containerbottom side wherein the snow blade front edge exists higher than thatpart of the container bottom side that contains the half hinge, wherebya sled-like configuration is formed at the front end of the snowreceiver; (d) a latch means that functions to latch the collar assemblyinto either the front position or back position wherein the latchportion of the latch means is attached to the top surface of the collarassembly connecting bar wherein the latch is configured to allow theuser to engage the latch portion with the snow mover dig plate and/orpush plate to move and latch the collar assembly into either the frontposition or back position wherein during these operations the user mayremain standing erect; (e) a handle that is attached to rear portion ofthe container top side near the container back side and centered betweenthe container right side and left side wherein the handle includes thehand grip and on either end of said grip, and assuming the handle handgrip is in a horizontal plane, posts extends downward in generallyperpendicular fashion, terminating at bases, said bases extendingoutwardly from their respective posts in a direction away from hand gripand terminating wherein the two bases, having screw holes, are attachedto the container top side wherein the hand grip has a front edge and aback edge wherein the back edge is parallel to the plane established bythe container back side wherein a slot begins at the center of the backedge and proceeds towards the front edge in a fashion perpendicular tothe back edge and terminates prior to reaching the front edge whereinthe slot width is sufficient to receive the edge of the snow mover pushplate when said plate is inserted into said slot, resulting in the digplate being moved underneath the hand grip wherein the distance from theslot to either post is sufficient to receive the dig plate wherein thehandle is also of a size and shape that can be easily grasped by thehand and used to lift the snow receiver up and about; (f) a cord that isin the form of a loop wherein either cord end is threaded through a cordguide and is attached to the container by cord clamps, said clampsattached to the lower portion of the container right side and the leftside in a location near and to the rear of the container hinge pinholes, said clamp locations being oppositely disposed wherein oppositesides of the cord loop are knotted together by one or more knots whereinsaid knot(s) may act as hand grasps; (g) two cord clamps wherein eitherincludes a rounded portion and two bases wherein extending out fromeither end of the rounded portion are the bases, said bases each havinga screw hole wherein the bases are attached to the container with screwswherein the rounded portion is engaged over the cord, clamping the cordends in place; and (h) two cord guides wherein each includes a bar, twoposts and two bases, said bases having screw holes wherein if the bar isin a horizontal plane, the posts extend downward from either end of thebar in a generally perpendicular fashion and terminate at bases whereinsaid bases extend outwardly and away from the bar in a generallyperpendicular fashion from the posts and terminate wherein the cordguides are attached to either collar assembly sides in an orientationwherein the front edge of bar is near to and equidistant from the frontedge of the collar assembly right side and left side wherein the lengthof the posts is sufficient to provide enough space between the bar andits respective collar assembly side to allow free up and down movementof the cord wherein the length of the bar and location of cord guide onthe collar assembly are, in combination, sufficient to allow the snowreceiver to be pulled forward in most usage circumstances without thecord ever engaging either post wherein when the cord is pulled up thecord will engage the cord guide top posts and lift the front of thecontainer up.
 2. The latch means of claim 1 comprising: (a) a latchhaving a frame that is U shaped, said frame having a bottom side, rightside and a left side wherein if the bottom side is placed on a flathorizontal surface then the right side joins the right edge of thebottom side and extends upwards in a generally perpendicular fashionwherein the left side joins the left edge of the bottom side and extendsupwards in a generally perpendicular fashion wherein both the right sideand left side extend upwards sufficiently high to offer side protectionto the lower portion of the latch mechanism wherein the right side andleft side are oppositely disposed wherein formed through both the rightside and left side is a shaft hole, said holes to receive a shaftwherein said holes are oppositely disposed and so positioned that thelongitudinal axis of the shaft, when installed, is generallyperpendicular to the frame right side and left side wherein the latch,when assembled onto the snow receiver, is attached to the top surface ofthe collar assembly connecting bar by attaching frame bottom side tosaid top surface wherein when attached, the planes established by theframe right and left sides are generally parallel to the planesestablished by the container right and left sides wherein the latchmeans also includes an actuator lever wherein, if the latch frame bottomside is on a horizontal surface, the top portion of the actuator leveris a horizontal top plate wherein joined to a central portion of thebottom of the top plate is an arm which extends downward in a fashiongenerally perpendicular to the top plate wherein said arm joins a baseplate in a generally perpendicular fashion wherein the top plate frontportion extends out in a forward direction further than the frontsurface of the arm such that the front portion and the arm, incombination, form the actuator front hook wherein a forward direction isgenerally towards the snow receiver front end wherein the top plate backportion extends out in a rearwards direction further than the backsurface of the arm such that the back portion and the arm, incombination, form the actuator back hook wherein on either side of thebase plate bearing flanges extend downward from a central portion of thebase plate wherein in the lower portion of the flanges, shaft holes areformed in, said shaft holes being oppositely disposed, said shaft holesto receive the shaft when the latch is assembled, wherein the twobearing flanges are joined to the base plate in an orientation to allowrotational movement of the actuator lever over the shaft when theactuator lever arm is moved to the front or back wherein the outsidewidth of the base plate and bearing flanges are dimensioned to fitwithin and adjacent to the frame right side and left side wherein theinside distance between the flanges is sufficient to cradle, or includebetween, both the back latch lever and the front latch lever wherein theback latch lever includes, among other portions, the rotation stopportion wherein the rotation stop portion begins at the rotation stopbottom surface and extends upwards to join the flat portion wherein theflat portion proceeds horizontally and rearwardly to join the inclinedportion wherein the inclined portion proceeds upwards and rearwardlyfrom the flat portion to join the engagement portion wherein theengagement portion proceeds downwardly from the inclined portion andterminates in the engagement portion bottom surface, wherein theinclined portion and the engagement portion, in combination, form theback position hook wherein proceeding downward on either side of theflat portion and oppositely disposed are two bearing flanges wherein inthe lower portions thereof shaft holes are formed in, said shaft holesto receive the shaft when the latch is assembled, wherein the bearingflanges are sufficiently spaced apart to cradle, or include, a coiledtorsion spring wherein the front latch lever includes, among otherportions, the rotation stop portion wherein the rotation stop portionbegins at the rotation stop bottom surface and extends upwards to jointhe flat portion wherein the flat portion proceeds horizontally andforewardly to join the engagement portion wherein the engagement portionproceeds downwardly from the flat portion and terminates in theengagement bottom surface wherein the flat portion and the engagementportion, in combination, form the front position hook wherein proceedingdownward on either side of the flat portion and oppositely disposed arethe two bearing flanges wherein in the lower portions thereof shaftholes are formed in, said shaft holes to receive the shaft when thelatch is assembled, wherein the bearing flanges are sufficiently spacedapart to cradle, or include in between, a coiled torsion spring whereinthe configuration of the assembled latch is hereby described wherein thelower portion of the actuator lever, said lower portion being the baseplate and the two base plate bearing flanges, resides between and isadjacent to the frame right and left sides wherein the back latch leverand the front latch lever are placed side by side and reside below thebase plate and between the actuator lever right bearing flange and leftbearing flange wherein the back latch lever back position hook extendsout rearwards of the frame bottom side back edge and the front latchlever front position hook extends out forward of the frame bottom sidefront edge wherein a coiled torsion spring resides between the twobearing flanges shaft holes of the back latch lever wherein the centerlongitudinal hole of said spring is in alignment with the two holeswherein one tang engages the frame bottom side and the other tangengages the underside of back latch lever flat portion in an orientationthat urges the back position hook to the down position wherein a coiledtorsion spring resides between the two bearing flange shaft holes of thefront latch lever wherein the center longitudinal hole of said spring isin alignment with the two holes wherein one tang engages the framebottom side and the other tang engages the bottom side of the frontlatch lever flat portion in an orientation that urges the front positionhook to the down position wherein the shaft is engaged through all shaftholes of the frame, actuator lever, back latch lever and the front latchlever and also through the center longitudinal holes of the two coiledtorsion springs wherein the mechanical configuration of the latch thatexists when the collar assembly is latched into the front position orthe back position wherein no force is being applied to the latchactuator lever wherein the respective coiled torsion springs of the backlatch lever and the front latch lever have forced the back portion ofthe flat portion of back latch lever to engage the frame bottom sideback top edge and also forced the front portion of the flat portion ofthe front latch lever to engage the frame bottom side front top edgewherein this forces the back position hook of the back latch lever intothe down position and also forces the front position hook of the frontlatch lever into the down position wherein the actuator lever base plateis in close proximity to, or in slight contact with, the respectivelatch levers but said base plate is applying no force to either whereinthis relative positioning of the two latch levers and the actuator baseplate retain the actuator lever in a straight up, or neutral, positionallowing a minimum of unnecessary front or back movement, or wobble, ofthe actuator lever, wherein the mechanical configuration of the latchwhen being unlatched from the front position hook receiver wherein thesnow mover engages the actuator lever front hook and pushed rearwards bythe user, rotating the actuator lever over shaft causing the back bottomedge of the actuator lever base plate to engage the front latch leverflat portion to the rear of shaft, lifting the front position hooksufficiently high up enough to allow disengagement of the hook from theengagement surface of the front position hook receiver wherein furtherrotation of the actuator lever is prevented by the engagement of thebottom surface of the rotation stop to the frame bottom side whereincontinued force applied to the actuator lever by the snow mover rotatesthe collar assembly over the hinge shaft to move the collar assembly tothe back position whereupon of the back position hook will engage overthe engagement surface of the back position hook receiver whereinfurther backward movement of the collar assembly is prevented byengagement of the back edge of the collar assembly connecting bar withthe back stop means thereby latching the collar assembly into the backposition, wherein the mechanical configuration of the latch when beingunlatched from the back position hook receiver wherein the snow moverengages the actuator lever back hook and is pulled forward by the user,rotating the actuator lever over the shaft causing the front bottom edgeof the actuator lever base plate to engage the back latch lever flatportion forward of the shaft, lifting the back position hooksufficiently high up enough to allow disengagement of the hook from theengagement surface of the back position hook receiver wherein furtherrotation of the actuator lever is prevented by the engagement of thebottom surface of the rotation stop to the frame bottom side whereincontinued force applied to the actuator lever by the snow mover rotatesthe collar assembly over the hinge shaft to move the collar assembly tothe front position whereupon of the front position hook will engage overthe engagement surface of the front position hook receiver whereinfurther forward movement of the collar assembly is prevented byengagement of the front edge of the collar assembly connecting bar withthe front stop means thereby latching the collar assembly into the frontposition; (b) a front position hook receiver wherein the basic design ofthe front position hook receiver, which is attached to the front portionof the container top side, includes a flat horizontal base from whichthe flange extends upwards in a vertical fashion from the center portionof the base and terminates at the top surface wherein the slantedengagement surface begins at the drop point which is located on thefront end of the top surface and continues downward and to the rear,terminating at the bottom surface of the base wherein the back edge,which begins at a point on the top surface that is a sufficient distancefrom the drop point to assure that the engagement of the latch frontlatch lever hook is onto the top surface, extends downward in a verticalfashion and terminates at the base wherein the contour of the topsurface is determined by the geometry of a particular device design; (c)a front stop means includes the flat horizontal base which is attachedto the container top side and the lateral portion which extends upwardsand towards the front from the base at an angle E wherein the lateralportion engages the front edge of the collar assembly connecting barwhen stopping further front movement of said collar assembly whereinAngle E is such that the surface of the lateral portion is perpendicularto the angle of attack of the connecting bar at the point of engagement,thereby preventing any up or down skewing force being applied to thecollar assembly wherein the angle of attack of the collar assemblyconnecting bar is determined by the geometry of a particular devicedesign; (d) a back position hook receiver which is attached to arearwards portion of the container top side, includes a flat horizontalbase from which the flange extends upwards in a vertical fashion fromthe center portion of the base and terminates at the top surface whereinthe slanted engagement surface begins at the drop point which is locatedon the rear end of the top surface and continues downward and to thefront, terminating at the bottom surface of the base wherein the frontedge, which begins at a point on the top surface that is a sufficientdistance from the drop point to assure that the engagement of the backlatch lever hook is onto the top surface, extends downward in a verticalfashion and terminates at the base wherein the contour of the topsurface is determined by the geometry of a particular device design; and(e) a back stop means, which is attached to a rearwards portion of thecontainer top side, includes the flat horizontal base and the lateralportion which extends upwards and to the rear from the base at an angleF wherein the lateral portion engages the back edge of the collarassembly connecting bar when stopping further back movement of saidcollar assembly wherein Angle F is such that the surface of the lateralportion is perpendicular to the angle of attack of the connecting bar atthe point of engagement, thereby preventing any up or down skewing forcebeing applied to the collar assembly wherein the angle of attack of thecollar assembly connecting bar is determined by the geometry of aparticular device design.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein an angle A ofabout 32 degrees and an angle C of about 6 degrees renders a device thatfunctions satisfactorily wherein either angle may vary within asubstantial angle range and still render a device that functionssatisfactorily.
 4. a snow removal device comprising: (a) a snow moverthat is identical to the item mover previously described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,398,278 B1 except for two modifications described in this patentwherein if the handle is in a vertical position with the lower end ofthe handle attached to the push plate wherein the push plate is termed astriking means in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,278 B1 wherein in this patent onemodification is that the bottom of the handle is beveled upwards andoutwards away from the push plate said bevel terminating on the handleback side, wherein a second modification is that the two screw holes onthe back side of the handle are recessed to prevent the attaching screwheads or nuts from protruding out beyond the surface of the handle backside; (b) a container that is generally a box like structure having aright side, left side, top side, back side, bottom side, snow blade andopen front end wherein the snow blade joins the bottom side at junctionJ and extends forward with a downward slope, terminating at the snowblade front edge wherein the angle magnitude of said slope is sufficientto assure that the blade front edge and the back side bottom edge arethe only parts engaging a flat horizontal surface when the container isplaced on said surface wherein all sides join adjacent sides in agenerally perpendicular fashion except at junction J where the bottomside joins the snow blade wherein the front edges of the right side,left side, top side and the snow blade front edge all lie in the sameplane, said plane being generally parallel to the plane of the back sidewherein the snow receiver includes the container, cord, handle, cordguides and the cord clamps; (c) a cord which is a loop having one ormore knots wherein either end is attached to the container by cordclamps attached to the lower portion of the container right side and theleft side in a location near and to the rear of the junction J, saidclamp locations being oppositely disposed wherein the knot(s) may beused as hand grasps; (d) two cord clamps wherein either includes arounded portion and two bases wherein extending out from either end ofthe rounded portion are the bases, said bases each having a screw holewherein the bases are attached to the container with screws wherein therounded portion is engaged over the cord, clamping the cord ends inplace; (e) two cord guides wherein either includes a bar, two posts andtwo bases, said bases having screw holes wherein if the bar is in ahorizontal plane, the posts extend downward from either end of the barin a generally perpendicular fashion and terminate at bases wherein saidbases extend outwardly and away from the bar in a generallyperpendicular fashion from the posts and terminate wherein the cordguides are attached near the open front end to the right side and leftside in an orientation wherein the front edge of bar is near to andequidistant from the front edge of the container open front end whereinthe length of the posts is sufficient to provide enough space betweenthe bar and its respective container side to allow free up and downmovement of the cord wherein the length of the bar and location of cordguide on the container right and left sides are, in combination,sufficient to allow the snow receiver to be pulled forward in most usagecircumstances without the cord ever engaging either post wherein whenthe cord is pulled up the cord will engage the cord guide top posts andlift the front of the container up; and (f) a handle that is attached torear portion of the container top side very near the container back sideand centered between the container right side and left side and,assuming the handle hand grip is in a horizontal plane, the handleincludes the hand grip and on either end of said grip, posts extendsdownward in generally perpendicular fashion, terminating at bases, saidbases extending outwardly from their respective posts in a directionaway from hand grip and terminating wherein the two bases, having screwholes, are attached to the container top side wherein the hand grip hasa front edge and a back edge wherein the back edge is parallel to theplane established by the container back side wherein a slot begins atthe center of the back edge and proceeds towards the front edge in afashion perpendicular to the back edge and terminates prior to reachingthe front edge wherein the slot width is sufficient to receive the edgeof the snow mover push plate when said plate is inserted into said slot,resulting in the dig plate being moved underneath the hand grip whereinthe distance from the slot to either post is sufficient to receive thedig plate wherein the handle is also of a size and shape that can beeasily grasped by the hand and used to lift the snow receiver up andabout.
 5. The device of claim 4 wherein the downward angle of the snowblade relative to the bottom side is an angle of about 6 degrees whichrenders a device that functions satisfactorily wherein said angle mayvary within a substantial angle range and still render a device thatfunctions satisfactorily.